Presented to PAUL L. ZIEMER by the American Board of Health Physics at the 47th Annual Meeting of the Health Physics Society, Tampa, Florida, June 16-20, 2002
Paul L. Ziemer

The William A. McAdams Outstanding Service Award is presented each year by the American Board of Health Physics to recognize an individual who has made important contributions to advancing the profession of health physics and the health physics certification process. The Award was established in 1989 in honor of one of the American Board of Health Physics founders. William A. McAdams provided leadership, energy, and vision to the Board during its formation. He was a member of the 1958 Certification Committee formed by the Health Physics Society to investigate the need for a Board. Dr. McAdams then served as the chair of the temporary Board when it was formed in November 1958, and as the first Chair of the inaugural ABHP when it was formed in October 1959.

The first Award was presented in 1989 on the 30th Anniversary of the ABHP. Since that time 13 distinguished health physicists have received this award. Today we are gathered to honor a truly deserving health physicist and recognize him for his outstanding contributions to the profession of health physics and to the health physics certification process.

I am extremely pleased to announce on behalf of the American Board of Health Physics that Paul L. Ziemer, Ph.D., has been selected as the 2002 recipient of the William A. McAdams Outstanding Service Award. Dr. Ziemer's resume reads like an encyclopedia of health physics committees, boards, honors, and professional achievements. There is no field of health physics and the certification process that his contributions have not touched and been made better due to his contributions.

Following the receipt of his Bachelor of Science in physics from Wheaton College in Illinois, he enrolled at Vanderbilt University from which he received a Master of Science degree in radiological physics with a minor in mathematics. He continued his studies at Purdue University, which awarded him a Doctor of Philosophy in bionucleonics in 1962.

Dr. Ziemer has had a long and distinguished association with Purdue University and its health physics activities. He was its Radiological Control Officer, progressed through the academic ranks of Assistant, Associate, and full Professor, and served as Head of the School of Health Sciences. Dr. Ziemer is currently Professor Emeritus and Retired Head of the School of Health Sciences at Purdue University.

Over the past 43 years Dr. Ziemer has been directly involved in the undergraduate and graduate level instruction of over 400 individuals who are currently active in the health physics profession including 89 Ph.D. students, 121 M.S. students, and 205 B.S. students.

Dr. Ziemer has been a workhorse of the Health Physics Society. Three different times he has served on its Board of Directors (1970-1976, 1989-1990, and 1995-2000) and was the President of the Health Physics Society in 1975-1976. In addition he has served on most and chaired many of the standing and special committees of the HPS. Dr. Ziemer was the Chairman of the First Midyear Topical Symposium of the Health Physics Society in 1966. The Health Physics Society has recognized his professional achievements by naming him the Elda E. Anderson Award recipient in 1971, the G. William Morgan Lecturer in 1997, the Midwest Chapter's R. S. Landauer Memorial Lecturer in 1997, and the recipient of its Founders Award in 2001.

Dr. Ziemer has been an active participant in the American Academy of Health Physics since its inception. In 1985, the Board of the Health Physics Society approved a new set of Bylaws for the American Board of Health Physics that severed the indirect control of the ABHP by the HPS and allowed for the establishment of the American Academy of Health Physics as an entity. The HPS and the ABHP each appointed three members of the initial Executive Committee of the AAHP. Three additional members were to be elected by the membership of the Academy, that is the Certified Health Physicists.

In April 1985, the CHP's were asked to vote on the proposed Bylaws and to vote on the positions of President-Elect, Secretary, and one additional member of the Executive Committee. Dr. Ziemer was chosen as President-Elect. The initial Executive Committee first met on January 24 and 25, 1986. Les Slaback volunteered to organize and coordinate that first meeting, and Dr. Ziemer agreed to Chair it. At that meeting, Bryce Rich was elected to serve as President Pro Tem. Thus there was no regular President the first year since the Bylaws required the President to serve a year as President-Elect first. Dr. Ziemer served as the first President of the AAHP but during its second year of operation (1987). He is currently serving as a member of the Academy's Professional Standards and Ethics Committee.

Dr. Ziemer was first certified by the American Board of Health Physics in 1965 and has continued to be recertified since that time. He was most recently recertified in 2002. Since becoming a Certified Health Physicist, Dr. Ziemer served on the ABHP's Panel of Examiners (1969-1971) and as a member of the American Board of Health Physics in 1989 and 1990 and most recently from 1995 through 2000.

The scientific and technical capabilities and professionalism of Dr. Ziemer have also been recognized and sought out by national and international organizations outside the HPS, AAHP, and ABHP family. He has served with distinction on numerous committees of the American National Standards Institute, the International Standards Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements, and the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR-VI).

Dr. Ziemer has also served as a consultant and advisor to numerous private corporations, universities, national laboratories, and state and federal governmental agencies.

Two Presidents of the United States have sought the scientific and technical knowledge and professional wisdom of Dr. Ziemer. Former President George Bush appointed Dr. Ziemer to be the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety, and Health in 1990. He served in this position within the Department of Energy from 1990 through 1993. Earlier this year, President George W. Bush appointed Dr. Ziemer to be Chairman of the Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health.

Even with all these professional activities and achievements, Dr. Ziemer has also had a life outside health physics. He has been and continues to be active in his church at the local and national levels and has even been involved in the work of its seminary. He is actively involved in Rotary International. Most importantly, he also wooed and wed his wife of 43 years, Marilyn, and helped in the rearing of their four daughters.

In summary, Dr. Ziemer exemplifies what all of us should aspire to as Certified Health Physicists. His life of service, achievement, and dedication to the profession of health physics and the certification process, this nation, his community, his church, and his family has set a standard of excellence that should be the goal of all Certified Health Physicists.

It is with great pride, and even greater humility, that I present on behalf of the American Board of Health Physics the 2002 William A. McAdams Outstanding Service Award to a most deserving individual, Dr. Paul L. Ziemer.

Edgar D. Bailey, Vice Chair ABHP